Vietnam Electricity (EVN) has received proposals from seven wind farm investors in Laos aiming to sell electricity to Vietnam, totaling nearly 4,150 megawatts (MW).
According to Vietnamese and Lao state media reports on 27 and 29 February, citing Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), the wind power from Laos will be transmitted to Vietnam via Quang Tri province’s transmission lines. Lao investors plan to offer over 682 MW of wind power before 2025, with the remainder to be delivered afterward.
Despite the proposal, the existing infrastructure in the area may limit the amount of electricity purchased.
During the dry season and other periods, Vietnam’s Quang Tri Province can typically only accommodate a maximum of 300 MV of electricity due to the full capacity operation of most 200 kilovolt (KV) and 110 KV lines in the area.
EVN has indicated that with the current infrastructure, Quang Tri can only handle 2,500 MW of electricity from Laos, significantly less than what Lao investors aim to sell.
Last year, EVN proposed importing wind power from Laos to Quang Tri province, urging the MoIT to review and submit the plan to the Prime Minister. The proposed purchase price for electricity from the Truong Son Wind Power Plant is USD 6.95 cent/Kilowatthour (kWh).
The ministry revealed that it had received a request for feedback on purchasing wind power from a plant in Laos’ Bolikhamxay Province, with a capacity of 250 MW, set for completion in late 2025.
To meet the project’s timeline, the Vietnam Laos Energy Investment and Development Corporation also proposed selling electricity from the plant to Vietnam, suggesting funding the grid connection project using the plant’s funds.
In earlier developments, the governments of Laos and Vietnam had agreed to import 1,000 MW of electricity from Laos to Vietnam by 2020, with expectations of increasing to 3,000 MW by 2025 and 5,000 MW by 2030. As of October 2023, the Vietnamese Prime Minister had approved importing electricity from Laos with a total capacity of 2,689 MW.
EVN has currently signed 19 power purchase agreements (PPAs) to buy electricity from 26 Lao power plants, with seven projects currently operational and more expected to come online by 2025, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade.
